It was refreshing when Takshila Sethi really opened up to the Real Reviews camera about why she spends approximately Rs. 3,000 - Rs. 4,000 per month on high-range beauty brands like L’Oreal, FabIndia, Body Shop, Calvin Klein and many others.

The 27-year-old business analyst cares about looking good and is still experimenting with different brands of face washes, body scrubs, body butters and hair products. Even though she admits to being ‘addicted to beauty products’, and wanting to buy every new offering in the market, Takshila is constantly assessing the value for the money she spends.

Comparing FabIndia with Body Shop was Takshila’s idea, and she spoke passionately about both brands in our pre-shoot discussion. Like she mentions in her review, she has been using FabIndia and Body Shop for almost two years and found that FabIndia has almost the same product range and gives her very similar results to Body Shop - for half the price. And that, to working professionals like her friends and herself, is a big deal.

And that’s not only why Takshila is leaning towards home-grown FabIndia. She also says in her video that since each FabIndia product is formulated for all skin types - she has normal skin - and works just as well in any season, it is a convenient brand to opt for. Besides, when you are picking up a product for the very first time and are unsure how it will affect your skin or hair, Rs. 150 to Rs. 200 spent on FabIndia products seem a safer bet than blowing Rs. 400 and above for Body Shop.

Being a regular user of moisturisers and body butters, Takshila observes that perhaps Body Shop hasn’t done enough R&D for the Indian climate as their lotions and butters are too greasy, and while they may work in the European climate, it doesn’t do so for Indian skin.

You can also see a review of FabIndia’s Seabuckthorn After-Bath Oil here.